Working Behind the Scenes, Army Entomologists Find Duties Rewarding

>By Keith B. Richburg

>The Washington Post

>MOGADISHU

> Walk into the office of Army Capt. Steve Horosko here and the first thing
you might notice are the three dead, stiff-legged rats sealed in plastic
Zip-lock bags on the windowsill. Or perhaps the jars of centipedes and
millipedes stored in liquid on a nearby shelf.

Horosko is an Army entomologist -- an insect specialist -- with the 485th
Medical Detachment. The creepy collection in his office is just part of his
job. He doesn't see much action or get many headlines, unlike the U.S.
Marines battling Somali gunmen in this capital's mean streets. His work is
confined to a cramped office or laboratory, and he is often the butt of
jokes from colleagues.

But Horosko takes his work just as seriously. "We're not just guys who run
around with great big Orkin cans spraying,'' he said.

While the Marines contend with continuous sniper fire and the logistical
problems of delivering food across an inhospitable countryside, Horosko and
his fellow entomologists here are battling Somalia's untold number of
indigenous multi-legged, furry and winged inhabitants, which are constantly
flying, crawling, slithering and scampering in the supposedly "secure''
areas where the U.S. troops live, eat and sleep. These creatures can carry
a number of serious diseases -- some of them fatal if not treated --
ranging from the more common malaria and dengue fever to more exotic
ailments with names like Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever, Sand Fly Fever,
Kala Azar and Baghdad Sore.

"I think it's critically important for the troops, especially in an
environment like this,'' Horosko said. "You're faced with a wide variety of
threats -- and I'm not talking about the two-legged threats.''

The Army recently reorganized its medical units, taking three large
entomology detachments of 40 specialists each and creating smaller, more
mobile units that can move quickly into the field alongside combat troops
-- sort of a Rapid Deployment Force of bug-busters. In addition to its
entomology work, the 485th Detachment provides preventive medicine, tends
to field sanitation needs and inspects latrines.

The greatest indigenous insect threat to U.S. forces in Somalia, Horosko
said, is the mosquito "because it can kill you here.''

Army Col. Edwin Schoonover, commander of the 86th Evacuation Hospital --
the mobile, 104-bed field facility set up at the Mogadishu airport -- said
his doctors have seen 30 confirmed malaria cases among the troops since the
hospital opened Jan. 8. Because of the hospital's sophisticated laboratory,
Schoonover said, doctors usually can diagnose a malaria case within just a
few hours of testing the patient, and the affected soldiers generally have
returned to duty within two days.

Other pesky creatures here are not quite as dangerous as mosquitoes,
presenting more of a nuisance than a threat.

Somalia's ubiquitous centipedes, while unsightly typically are "not out
looking for people,'' Horosko said. Usually, he said, the soldiers find the
creatures inside their boots in the morning, leading to an irritating bite
similar to a common bee sting.

The Somalia fly belongs to the same family as the common American housefly.
But the local variation has a high potential for transferring disease to
humans because of its tendency to hover around the human mouth and face,
near the mucous membranes.

Rats tend to congregate in areas where food is stored and where humans
sleep, in search of scraps. Horosko said the rats, in concert with the
flies, carry a disease risk: They have "very poor bladder control'' and
tend to urinate and defecate as they crawl along, leaving bacteria-infested
waste for the flies to settle on before they move on to hover around human
mouths.

A more dangerous pest is the snake, of which Somalia is believed to have at
least eight poisonous varieties. Several American soldiers have reported
snake sightings, but so far there has been only one known mishap. A GI was
brought to the hospital after a spitting cobra shot its venom into the
soldier's eyes. The venom can permanently damage the eye's cornea, but
alert U.S. medics taped down the victim's eyelids and started continuous
irrigation, saving the soldier's sight.

Somalia also is home to potentially dangerous scorpions, as well as sea
urchins and even Indian Ocean sharks that take an occasional swim at the
nearby beach, which is off-limits for most of the troops.

Horosko, a resident of De Ridder, La., who is based at nearby Fort Polk,
said he enjoys doing a job that might make burly Marines squirm. But he
said the difficult conditions in Somalia make this "more of a challenge''
than previous assignments.